K/DA - POP/STARS (ft Madison Beer, (G)I-DLE, Jaira Burns)
Video game company Riot Games, responsible for popular multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends, have launched a wildly successful and creative marketing campaign by forming a K-pop group using characters from their game. The group is called "K/DA", likely a reference to the game's kill-death-assist ratio. Each of the four members are voiced by real-life pop stars including Jaira Burns, Madison Beer, and Miyeon and Soyeon from K-pop group "(G)I-dle". They are represented visually in their captivating animated debut by game "champions": Kai'Sa "Daughter of the Void", Akali "the Rogue Assasin", Evelynn "Agony's Embrace" and Ahri "the Nine-Tailed Fox", and the clip has racked up nearly 100 million views on YouTube in under a month!
Their debut single "POP/STARS" has a dazzling pop sound and wonderful downward-moving chorus melodic progression that stands in contrast to the lyric: "Ain't nobody bringing us down down down down". The group also recently put on a spectacular performance of the single both in person and using augmented reality at the opening ceremony of the 2018 League of Legends World Championship in Incheon, South Korea. It's a super well done and innovative way to present a music group with appeal even to non-K-pop/non-gamer folks. Check out the video clip and live performance below!